Health Blog

Category Archives: Diseases and Cures

Her pained facial expressions failed to hide overt efforts to suppress her severe muscle discomfort. Superficial ulcers littered her tongue and throat. The red rash on her extremities and her blistered hands and feet nailed the diagnosis. A medical student could have easily diagnosed this case. My patient suffered hand, foot and mouth disease. This was the third case in a week and rumor had it that most of the daycare she worked was affected as well.

I had seen her toddler last week for fever. With no significant clinical history (no vomiting or high fever or lethargy) and no tell-tale clinical findings, I assumed it was viral. Mom would have to wait for her child’s low-grade fever to resolve then anticipate a possible rash. When I called Monday, the rash was already present in her toddler and he was already less irritable and obviously feeling much better; but, by that time, mom had succumbed to his illness.

Caused by the coxsackievirus or enterovirus, hand-foot-and-mouth disease spreads through coughing and sneezing or handling of infected stool. It is commonly spread in daycares and is most contagious in the first week of illness, but contagion can continue for several months due to viral particles which may remain in the stool.Therefore, maintaining routine strict hand hygiene is important and is one of many reasons people should carefully wash their hands after handling dirty diapers.

Mom’s “prescribed” treatment included pain medications such as ibuprofen and Bahama Bucks deliciously cold snow cones to soothe her sore throat. Additionally, she needed rest and recovery time (thanks to an understanding husband). I encouraged her to maintain exceptionally good hand washing to prevent further infectious spread.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease can be confused with other rash-associated illnesses. Unlike more serious rash-associated infections, this rash does not appear at the same time as high fever. Importantly,rash with fever could signal an entirely different infection that may be far more serious and require immediate medical attention.

In addition, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is NOT to be confused with hoof-and-mouth disease that is only found in animals such as cattle, or foot-in-mouth disease commonly found in politicians.

Guess how many underage drinkers there are in the United States? A thousand? A million? How about 10.1 million? That’s the word from The National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And with millions of under-21 kids heading for college in a few months, this is as good a time as any to talk to them about alcohol.

On Thursday, May 7, actress Robin Wright, a national advocate on the issue of campus alcohol abuse and hazing, will speak about substance abuse among teens at Phoenix House of Texas‘ Triumph for Teens luncheon.

In preparation for the event, Phoenix House program director Jayson Pratt offers four tips for parents. Granted, once kids leave home they’re pretty much on their own. But laying some groundwork is always a good idea.

Spell out expectations. Parents need to let teens know what they expect in terms of behavior beforehand, not once the teen has begun to experiment or developed an abuse problem. Bring the family together for a meeting, he says. Explain what is allowed, what isn’t, and what consequences are for breaking the rules.

Provide teens with easy outs. Help them come up with a plan for when they’re offered drugs or alcohol. For instance, they can say their parents do periodic drug tests on them. Or come up with a code for when kids are in an uncomfortable situation. They might say they need to check in with their parents, then use a secret phrase so parents know. It could be “I’m not ready to come home yet.”

“This type of code would also make it appear to their friends that you are forcing them to come home, allowing them to save face while getting them out of the situation,” Pratt says.

Keep schedules full. Unscheduled after-school and weekend hours are often key times teens get into trouble. Keep them involved with activities they like, either through school or a volunteer activity.

Be an Aware Parent. Show up to activities, even when your kids don’t expect you. When a peer group knows that mom or dad might show up, those who are using may be less likely to engage your teens. Make a point to know your teen’s friends and their parents. If there’s going to be a party, call to see if a parent will bee home. Use Facebook or Twitter to help connect with other parents who want to stay on top of their teen’s activities.

If you’re interested in attending the luncheon, there’s still time to register. We’ll warn you’ tickets are kind of pricey. For more info and to sign up, click here.

If not, then don’t worry. However, if nutritional issues unnaturally intrude on your daily activities and social life, then you could be orthorexic.

It has been called a “fixation on righteous eating “or an unnatural obsession with maintaining a healthy diet. Orthorexia, according to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is not recognized yet as a formal clinical diagnosis however it is seen in clinical practice. Orthorexia is when a person’s self-esteem depends on adherence to a restrictive healthy diet. As opposed to anorexia nervosa, orthorexics obsess with healthy eating and not with losing weight, being thin, or body image. According to NEDA, an orthorexic’s healthy food obsessions can impair ability to engage in usual activities and relationships.

Being too strict in dietary selections may be harmful. Orthorexics may have nutritionally defective diets that lack specific vitamins and minerals. Nutritional support by a professional dietitian generally is recommended. Are you at risk for orthorexia? NEDA would have you consider eight questions to help answer that question. The more “yes” answers, the more likely you could be an orthorexic:

Do you wish that occasionally you could just eat and not worry about food quality?

Do you ever wish you could spend less time on food and more time living and loving?

Does it seem beyond your ability to eat a meal prepared with love by someone else and not try to control what is served?

Are you constantly looking for ways foods are unhealthy for you?

Do love, joy, play and creativity take a back seat to following the perfect diet?

Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?

Do you feel in control when you stick to the “correct” diet?

Have you put yourself on a nutritional pedestal and wonder how others can possibly eat the foods they eat?

Professional medical attention generally is recommended and many skilled counselors and nutritionists can help deal with orthorexia and its undesirable physical and psychosocial consequences. Admitting there is a problem, learning to accept dietary flexibility and dealing with any food-related emotional issues will help in recovery.

Self-esteem does not come by imposing highly selective healthy eating into one’s lifestyle. Instead it comes from being a happy, self-confident person who seeks to incorporate more healthy lifestyles. After all, what is a birthday without a high-carbohydrate, gluten-full birthday cake and ice cream?

“Don’t let that dog lick your face!” My father did not grow up with animals and had little understanding and patience for my canine’s affections. Perhaps he would think differently given preliminary (yet unpublished) reports from the University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine.

According to the March 2015 issue of Family Practice News, researcher Susan Lynch, Ph.D., and colleagues studied stool samples from about 300 infants under 11 months of age. The purpose to study differences in babies’ natural gut bacterial, and its variance among those infants with significant dog exposure and how those differences might have an effect on childhood allergies.

Given the nature of the study material, I would not be surprised if research assistants were medical students.Nonetheless, these fearless stool -scientists evaluated the infant feces for bacterial differences at intervals of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age. Findings suggested that gut composition was related to the types of microbe (bacterial) exposures in the home and was considerably affected by the presence or absence of furry friends.

For infants without pets, the gut’s bacterial flora (growth) was linked to allergic disease development at age 2 which differed when compared to the gut flora of infants with canine friends. Importantly, the potential for gut flora intervention and development is highest within the first year of life, according to Dr. Lynch.

Family Practice News described recent German research that described similar results in studies of children growing up among farms. These farm-raised children have lower risks for asthma and allergies than city-raised kids. Ahhh, the familiar smell of fresh hay, horse hair, cow manure and chicken dung! Who would ever know it could have its benefits? I suppose my own childhood farm animal exposure could explain a lack of significant allergies.

Everyone should exercise caution with animals around small children. Even the friendliness of dogs can bite if they feel threatened, and full parental oversight is needed in the presence of any animal around kids. In addition, some animals can be vectors of bacteria (as we have seen in some petting zoos). However, with careful adult supervision, a groomed, clean, healthy dog may be a link to a healthier baby.

A Listeria outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream has sickened eight people and killed three people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Check out the video for more information on the recall and a new study that shows being overweight reduces your risk of dementia.

April is Autism Awareness Month. But for parents whose children have autism or are suspected of having it, any month is right for getting the word out.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in every 42 boys and 1 in every 189 girls has what’s officially known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The numbers have risen dramatically; in 2000, 1 in 150 children were identified as having it; currently, that number is 1 in 68.

Dr. Michael Marshall, a pediatrician on staff at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, says diagnosing children before age 18 months is difficult. By two years of age, ASD can be diagnosed. Here are some signs for parents to watch out for:

Difficulty with social interaction. Many kids with ASD have trouble with such social interactions as making eye contact. Whereas other children their age may look when someone calls their name or respond to facial expressions like smiles, those with ASD may not.

Unusual behaviors. Some children with ASD repeat movements such movements as rocking back and forth or flapping their arms. They also may become fixated on certain things such as lining up toys or watching moving objects like a wheel spinning.

Communication. Many children with ASD learn words later than their peers or stop using them after their first birthday, Marshall says. They also may use simple gestures like waving goodbye, or pointing out objects for you to see. They also may echo exactly what other say, or speak in other unusual ways.

Development. Children with ASD develop certain skills at different rates. One might solve puzzles, for instance, but struggle socially.

Even among kids with ASD, signs and symptoms vary widely. If you’re concerned about your child, tell your doctor.

“The initial screening should be done by your primary care provider,” Dr. Marshall says. “If an ASD is suspected after screening, further testing and referrals are often indicated. An early diagnosis can make a positive difference in a child’s life.”

A public health emergency has been declared in Indiana following an outbreak of HIV in Scott County. Check out this week’s health video for more information and updates on the Ebola outbreak and an outbreak of measles in Oklahoma.

Well, wouldn’t ya know. The day I finally do a Facebook post on a press release I’ve received at least 10 times — that walnuts are good for you! — I take a peek at the NYTimes Well blog, and there’s a whole piece on nuts.

I used to hesitate about eating nuts and peanuts (which are legumes, not nuts). They were just so fattening; at that point in my life, food was only measured in calories. Then I began loosening up a bit on caloric neuroses, instead focusing more on nutrition and overall health benefits. I eat walnuts and almonds every day, plus probably more than my allotted share of peanut butter.

Anyway…enough about me. Here’s some more info on the benefits of nuts. First, they help fight heart disease.

A series of studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine(and including the oft-quoted Nurses’ Health Study of 76,464 women and the not-as-oft quoted Health Professionals Follow-Up Study of 42,498 men) found that the more nuts people eat, the less likely they are to die at any given age — especially of those top killers, heart disease and stroke. This, by the way, is true of any socio-economic group; including people with not-so-healthy habits or lifestyles.

More specifically, says Today’s Dietitian.com those who ate more than one ounce of nuts per day not only had a lower mortality risk than those whose consumption was on a weekly basis; they also were less likely to be obese.

We’ve all heard about how good the Mediterranean Diet is, right? Well, those in a clinical trial conducted in Spain who added extra nuts to theirs had lower death rates.

The California Walnut Commission‘s email referenced a study from the University of California Davis, involving short-term benefits of walnut consumption among postmenopausal women with high cholesterol. Those who ate 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day saw improved vascular function, due to the effects of the walnut-derived fatty acids.

OK, the next-to-last-word in that previous sentence, which may drive people — as it did me for awhile — away from nuts. Sure, they have a decent amount of calories. But really, 185 calories for 14 walnut halves isn’t bad at all. They have fiber, protein and good fat, to name but a few attributes. Plus they, like other nuts and peanut butter, keep your hunger at bay. It’s that protein thing, ya know.

But only 4 in 10 American adults eat nuts every day — more women than men, which surprised me – according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, only 12 percent of women and 14 percent of men eat the required amount to strengthen cardiovascular health.

So what to do? Make a point of adding them — about 1.5 ounces total — to your daily diet. But remember, chocolate-covered don’t count.

Angelina Jolie announced that she had surgery to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries after tests showed some early signs of possible ovarian cancer. In a New York Time’s Op-Ed, the actress said she wants all women to be aware of their options. Check out the health video for more information and other health headlines.

Scary statistic: Kidney disease kills more people every year than prostate and breast cancer COMBINED. There are more stats where that came from — specifically, my email. More specifically, the National Kidney Foundation. I’ll get to others in a sec — after saying that 1 in 3 Americans will develop kidney disease.

With that in mind, wouldn’t it be a good idea to find out if you might either have it, or be at risk?

The National Kidney Foundation serving North Texas and Dallas County Health and Human Services have teamed together to offer a free Kidney Health Risk Assessment (KHRA) screening 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., March 12 (THURSDAY!!) on the sixth floor of the Dallas County Health and Human Services building, 2377 N Stemmons.

OK, more statistics that might make you dash over there before you even finish reading this:

Most of the 26 million people who have kidney disease don’t know it.

Risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney stones, a family history of kidney failure, prolonged use of some over-the-counter pain meds, and being over age 60.

Of the 120,000 Americans on the waiting list for an organ transplant, more than 96,000 need a kidney. Sadly, fewer than 17,000 receive one each year. Every day, an average 13 people die waiting for a kidney.

Now the better news: Finding kidney disease early can slow or prevent further progression. Untreated, kidney disease can lead to kidney failure and the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant.